


The Graysons: The Bat

by TheHaven



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Starfire (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics), Titans (Comics)
Genre: Bruce not being against aliens because that doesn't make sense what so ever, Mar'i and bruce bonding, Old Bruce Wayne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-18 05:14:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16988691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHaven/pseuds/TheHaven
Summary: Dick and Kory finally set up a day for Mar'i to meet her grandfather, Bruce Wayne."Bat!""Yes, a bat."





	The Graysons: The Bat

Nightwing sat atop a skyscraper in Gotham, watching the late night traffic make its way through the streets. He had been called in by Bruce, who had been getting a bit slower as he got up there in age, he was in need of a break from the constant work, Alfred wasn’t around anymore to make sure he paced himself. So Dick and the others had all made it a point to offer assistance whenever they could. The night was quiet, nothing too extreme had made itself known. His feet dangled off the edge as he looked through his phone, a contact notification showed up.

‘Princess’ It said as it showed. Ahh, Kory. The two of them had just returned from Tamaran together, showing little Mar’i her home away from home. She had a great time, playing with the others and flying with everyone. 

“Are we taking Mar’i to the cave?” The message on his phone said. “You said that you’ve been meaning to do it.” Oh, right. Mar’i was about four years old now, but whenever the three of them weren’t busy, with Titans/Justice League/Batman Incorporated/Kory’s duties as a princess. It was like finding a needle in a haystack to get together. Not to mention the crisis that had separated them for months at a time.

“Yes, love. We are, just give me some more time to patrol a bit.”  
“<3”

Dick shut off his phone and put it back into his pocket. Then did some stretches before leaping off into the night. “Well,” He said to himself. “This oughta be interesting.”

\----  
Bruce Wayne is… A complicated individual, to say the least. He was almost in his mid forties at this point, with a tiny streaks of grey appearing in his jet black hair. The cave was quite, as it had been for the past few years. He had Titus with him though, Damian had left him in his care. A nice bit of companionship was appreciated. Bruce had one hand on Titus’ head, while the other was submerged in a bucket of ice water. He had over done it, again. Nothing new though. He pulled his bloody hand out to cover it with a towel. And then pulled his book off from the the desk of the Bat-computer. The black casebook, all the bizarre, unbelievable adventures of Batman and Robin, he had hand written down in this beat up leather bound book. He flipped through some pages, seeing excerpts talking about some epic battle on Mars, a team up for the ages with Superman, Dick could never hide how big a fan he was of Clark. 

Bruce felt, nostalgic as of late. He realized just how much his children had grown, Dick was married, he had a child, a child he had neglected to meet, because of one world shattering crisis or another. A message notification rang out on his computer. A icon of the blue bird that Dick had chose to don lit up his screen. “Hey there, old man.”

“I gotta a little kid who would love to meet you.”

A smile emerges on his face as his fingers run along the keyboard. “Well, i’m sure Titus would love to meet them too.” He typed back. His son, now more than ever, really was a man with his own family. He couldn’t be more proud.

\----  
Dick and Kory walked down through the halls of Wayne manor, holding hands as their little Starshine floated up behind them. She yelped with glee, pointing out at the pictures held along the walls. “Puppy!” She’d giggle as they walked past a old photo of Ace. “Birdie!” She exclaimed as she saw a picture of a young Dick, holding a robin in his hands, with Bruce looking down with a smile. It was nice, but Dick could feel something wrong, Kory’s anxiousness wasn’t lost on him. She couldn’t hide emotions well, or, at all. Given the culture of her planet. “What’s wrong, Kory?” He asked as they walked. Kory sighed.

“I just, Dick… What if she’s too much for him? He’s weaker now, I don’t want her flying around and getting into things she shouldn’t.” She worried. Dick put a arm around her shoulder. 

“Princess, did I ever tell you how much a handful I was? And also still am?” He poked. Kory rolled her eyes. “But, you never could shoot lasers out of your eyes.” She poked back.  
“True, man I wish I could though. Woulda made the whole ‘small child in short shorts’ thing more threatening.” He mused. The joking stopped as they found themselves in front of the door, leading to the cave. “It’ll be fine, princess.” Dick reassured. They stopped as Mar’i, who wasn’t paying much attention to her surroundings, flew into the door. Dick reached up to pull her down from the air above her.

“I hit my head.” She informed them, rubbing the tiny mark on her head. Dick laughed.  
“I see that, Starshine. But you gotta pay attention, okay? We’re gonna meet Grandpa!” He told her. Her face lit up. “Grandpa!?” She yelped.  
“Uh huh! But you’re gonna have to listen, okay?”  
“Okay!”

\----

Bruce was still looking over his journal from all those years ago as he heard a pair of footsteps descending down the stairs. He closed it as he looked up to see Dick, and his wife. And child. He still couldn’t get over that. Dick raised a hand waving to him. “Old timer.” He said as he walked over to shake his hand. “Dick.” He said. “You look well.” He added.  
“I am, even better now that I get to see you.” Dick said. He felt something behind his leg, two arms wrapped around it, and a mess of hair behind it. He looked down and saw Mar’i, who had gotten shy all of the sudden. Her small green eyes stared at the floor.  
“He’s scary, daddy.” She whispered. Dick didn’t quite know how to react to that, he looked to bruce. Who let out a small laugh through his nose. “It’s alright, Starshine.” Dick assured as he stepped out from her. Leaving Mar’i looking up at bruce. She looked up at him, at the scars on his face, the tiny streaks of grey in his jet black hair. And the big Bat symbol on his chest. She floated up to it. And pressed her hand on it. “Bat.” She stated, as if he didn’t know. Bruce chuckled a bit. “Yes, bat.” He agreed. She relaxed a bit for some reason, as if finding common ground in agreeing that the symbol on his chest was a bat made her at ease. She looked down to see Titus, curled in a ball sleeping at Bruce’s feet. “Puppy?” She whispered. In an effort to not wake him. Bruce nodded. “Yes, puppy.” She relaxed a bit more. He wasn’t so scary. He had a puppy! And he had a pretty picture on his chest too! It was like a big bat, flying in the big bright moon in the sky. The quiet moment was interrupted by a ring from Dick and Kory’s phones. They looked down to see a Titans alert. 

“It’s never simple, is it?” Dick said.  
“No, it is not.” Kory sighed. “Come on, Starshine. We have to go now.” She told Mar’i as she waved to Bruce. 

“I wanna stay!” She protested. That came as a shock to the both of them. She was scared of him just a few minutes ago, now she wanted to stay? They weren’t quite sure what to do. Dick stammered a bit as he asked Bruce. “Uh, if it’s alright with you?” He asked.  
“It’s no trouble, really.” He told him as he raised a hand. Mar’i smiled as she floated around him, there was no one more interesting to her than this man right now. What does he do all day? What are all those toys on the tables? Where did those pretty costumes come from?

The two of them said their goodbyes as they made their way up the stairs. Kory made it up faster, as Dick stopped for a second to look at it another time before leaving, his daughter and father. Perfectly content with each other. “Dick?” Bruce said.  
“Yeah?”  
“What was that name you call her?”  
“Oh, Starshine.” He answered. Bruce looked down with a smile on his face. This little Starshine was the new light of his life. “Starshine?” He said to get her attention from the sleeping dog at his feet. 

“Would you like to read a story?” He asked her. Mar’i gasped, she loved stories! She’d always ask her mom and dad to stay up later to tell her more and more.

“What kinda stories?” She wondered.  
“Well, this one…” He said as he lifted up his journal. “Is about a bird, and a bat.”  
“A bat!”  
“Yes, a bat.”

\----

Kory and Dick had returned back a few hours later, something about the Mad Mod taking over Blud-Haven, oh well. They quietly made their way down the stairs, avoiding the noisier steps as they did. And in the chair, were Bruce and Mar’i passed out after hours and hours of stories. They stopped on the last step, and walked back up the stairs. 

The little Starshine sure did add a new light to the old timer’s life.


End file.
